Turkish bridge is world’s longest

The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge and motorway project - set to become the longest mid-span suspension bridge in the world - is scheduled to open on 18 March. 

While the bridge’s midspan of 2023m is the longest in the world, 1915 Çanakkale will also be the world’s tallest towered suspension bridge with its peak point at 334m.

In total, the bridge streteches 4608m across the Sea of Marmara and will reduce travel time across the Çanakkale Strait from almost five hours to just three minutes.

The completion of the motorway and bridge will provide an uninterrupted route to allow access from Europe to the southwest of Turkey - connecting the Marmara Region with the Northern Aegean.

The bridge was designed by COWI, a Danish engineering consultancy, and the independent design verification was conducted by Arup & AAS-Jakobsen.

The consortium that undertook the bridge’s construction comprised Limak and Yapı Merkezi from Turkey and DL E&C and SK ecoplant from South Korea.

The project, costing a total of €2.5 billion, is a significant engineering feat, having to take into consideration challenging wind and seismic conditions, as well as the sheer scale of the bridge elements.

The stability of the bridge deck, during both the construction and operation stages, was tested with a deck section model in addition to a site-specific seismic study to ensure maximum credible earthquake effects were considered in the design.